Key points:

 The most prolific winner of this season, Tadej Pogacar, is lining up for all three Ardennes classics, including the 87th edition of the Flèche Wallonne, scheduled for Wednesday, 19 April.
 However, there is no shortage of challengers with a better track record than the Slovenian on the Mur de Huy who will do their best to either outgun him or outsmart him, including Tom Pidcock, David Gaudu and Benoît Cosnefroy. The Spaniards Enric Mas and Mikel Landa, as well as the Colombians Sergio Higuita and Dani Martinez, could also join the battle.

 After that, Tadej Pogacar will head to Liège–Bastogne–Liège to wrap up his spring classics campaign with a showdown with Remco Evenepoel.

It feels like the dawn of a new era! Alejandro Valverde, Philippe Gilbert and Vincenzo Nibali all hung up their bicycles in 2022, dramatically changing the landscape of the Ardennes classics.
The voracious appetite of Tadej Pogacar is set to shake it up even more in spring 2023, in which he will be tackling the Amstel-Flèche-Liège trilogy for the first time since 2019. Then 20 years old, had recently made his first blip on the radar with a triumph in the Volta ao Algarve. Fast forward four years and „Pogi“ is the odds-on favourite in any race and on any terrain, a role he usually embraces with enthusiasm. He has already bagged 10 victories this season, including the Vuelta a Andalucía, Paris–Nice and the Tour of Flanders. While the Slovenian has never finished higher than ninth (2022) in the Flèche Wallonne, he certainly has the punch to emerge victorious from the clash on the Mur de Huy, not least because of his experience, with four starts under his belt.
Yet the climber with a rebel streak is still only human. The main combatants in the battle royale on the slopes of the Mur de Huy appear evenly matched, as none has scored more than once on this daunting, exceptional climb.
The reigning champion, Dylan Teuns, has been firing blank shots since the season got under way and, in general, his performances since joining Israel–Premier Tech have been nothing to write home about. The start list is full of riders on a roll.
Tom Pidcock, in a league of his own in Strade Bianche, has what it takes to build on his sixth place from 2021 and could even add another prestigious classic to his tally if he carries on his stellar form from Italy. Ditto for David Gaudu, who showed in Paris–Nice (second) that he has the legs to improve on his seventh place from 2021. French prospects are not limited to the Groupama–FDJ climber, as the Flèche Wallonne could also set the stage for the long-awaited return in force of Benoît Cosnefroy (second in 2020), Warren Barguil (fourth in 2020 and fifth in 2021) or Romain Bardet (ninth in 2018).
A closer look also reveals a high probability of finding a Spanish-speaking rider trying —and even succeeding— to best Pogacar. Mikel Landa is at the helm of the Spanish Armada following his impressive run in the Tour of the Basque Country (second), where Enric Mas (fifth) and Ion Izagirre (third) were also a force to be reckoned with. Meanwhile, among the Colombians, Sergio Higuita also stole the show in the Tour of the Basque Country, winning a leg-breaking stage in a new flash of talent.
The eye-watering gradients of the Chemin des Chapelles could play to the strengths of the Colombian national champion, Esteban Chaves, as they did last year for Dani Martínez (fifth), Ineos Grenadiers’s other ace. The map of pretenders to the crown now takes us to Canada, where Michael Woods (third in 2020) is a back-up option for Israel–Premier Tech, while Trek–Segafredo’s Italian Giulio Ciccone, who won the stage to the Vallter resort in the Volta a Catalunya and was one of the few riders to beat Primoz Roglic in the one-week race.

Whether or not his collection of silverware has grown in the meantime, Tadej Pogacar also intends to lock horns with Remco Evenepoel in Liège–Bastogne–Liège in a clash of titans between the last two winners. The world champion could put a smile back on the Soudal Quick-Step team’s faces by landing their first monument of the year, perhaps with the help of Julian Alaphilippe, who twice had to settle for second in Liège (2015 and 2021). The Olympic gold medallist, Richard Carapaz, will join the champions already present in Huy, along with Soren Kragh Andersen, Aleksandr Vlasov, Guillaume Martin, Ben O’Connor…

25 teams, main contenders

Germany
Bora–Hansgrohe: Higuita (COL) and Hindley (AUS)

Australia
Jayco AlUla: Sobrero (ITA), Craddock (USA) and Grmay (ETH)

Bahrain
Bahrain Victorious: Landa, Bilbao (ESP), Mohoric (SLO) and Poels (NED)

Belgium
Soudal Quick-Step: Bagioli (ITA), Schmid (SUI) and Vervaeke (BEL)
Lotto Dstny: Van Gils (BEL), Eenkhoorn (NED) and Sweeny (AUS)
Intermarché–Circus–Wanty: Calmejane (FRA) and Costa (POR)
Alpecin–Deceuninck: Hermans (BEL) and Stannard (AUS)
Bingoal–WB: Teugels and Mertz (BEL)

United Arab Emirates
UAE Team Emirates: Pogacar (SLO), Hirschi (SUI), Ulissi (ITA) and Wellens (BEL)

Spain
Movistar Team: Mas and Aranburu (ESP)
Equipo Kern Pharma: Adrià and Arrieta (ESP)
Burgos BH: Bol (NED) and Sánchez (ESP)

United States
Trek–Segafredo: Mollema (NED), Ciccone (ITA) and López (ESP)
EF Education–EasyPost: Chaves (COL), Powless (USA) and Honoré (DEN)

France
AG2R Citroën Team: Cosnefroy and Bonnamour (FRA)
Groupama–FDJ: Madouas, Gaudu and Molard (FRA)
Cofidis: Jesús Herrada (ESP) and Lafay (FRA)
Team Arkéa–Samsic: Barguil and Champoussin (FRA)
TotalEnergies: Latour and Vuillermoz (FRA)

United Kingdom
Ineos Grenadiers: Pidcock (GBR), Kwiatkowski (POL) and Martínez (COL)

Israel
Israel–Premier Tech: Teuns (BEL), Woods (CAN) and Schultz (AUS)

Kazakhstan
Astana Qazaqstan Team: Lutsenko (KAZ) and De la Cruz (ESP)

Norway
Uno-X Pro Cycling Team: T. Johannessen (NOR) and Charmig (DEN)

Netherlands
Jumbo–Visma: Benoot (BEL) and Valter (HUN)
Team DSM: Bardet, Combaud (FRA) and Hamilton (AUS)